KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand dollar rose today but gave up some of the gains by the close as events in the global financial crisis dominated trading.
Around 5pm today the NZ dollar was buying US65.99c, having dropped to around US64.90c yesterday evening.
Bank of New Zealand currency strategist Danica Hampton said early on in the session there was talk that the Federal Reserve was going to bail out insurer American International Group, which was later confirmed.
"That basically saw appetite for kiwi underpinned. We saw kiwi bounce from around US65.50c to a high of US66.75c," she said.
"People suddenly thought the world wasn't quite as bad a place and we saw people put back on carry trades," she said.
But she added that no one was carrying large positions in the current volatile markets.
The enthusiasm triggered by the AIG bailout dissipated during the day and the NZ dollar slipped back.
During the most recent turmoil the NZ dollar plunged from above 70 yen to about 67.25 - its lowest level since June 2004. Today it was 70.03 yen by 5pm, from 67.95 yen at the same time yesterday.
It was at 0.4663 euro by 5pm from 0.4568 at 5pm yesterday.
Against the Australian dollar, the kiwi was A82.75c at 5pm from A82.36c yesterday.
The trade weighted index was 63.09 at 5pm from 61.94 at 5pm yesterday.
Currency rates:
NZ dlr/US dlr US65.99c US65.05
NZ dlr/Aust dlr A82.75c A82.36c
NZ dlr/euro 0.4663 0.4568
NZ dlr/yen 70.03 67.95
NZ dlr/stg 36.99p 36.26p
NZ TWI 63.09 61.94
Australian dollar US79.70c US78.97c
Euro/US dollar 1.4157 1.4241
US dollar/yen 106.10 104.45
- NZPA
